petitive examinations, physical and mental, were held. in which 8,124 candidates competed. During the same period 17 non-competitive examinations were held, in which 57 candidates were examined, upon the nomination of appointing officers, in the absence of eligible lists and for provisional appointment for one month under section 14 of the law and under Rule 34 of the Civil Service Rules, making the total number of examinations for the year 368 and the total number of persons examined 12,690. A table, appended hereto, shows in detail the number and nature of the examinations, the number of candidates examined at each and the results of the examinations. The non-competitive examinations held for temporary appointment above referred to, were necessary because of the emergency arising from the discharge of all temporary appointees on August 10, as required by Rule 34, and also because of the fact that the Commission was unable to establish eligible lists for all positions under the increased demand for examinations. Since the emergency above mentioned, noncompetitive examinations have been virtually suspended. It is believed that the examinations have been practical in their character, the Commission having endeavored to make them fair tests of the relative capacity and fitness of the applicants for the various branches of the public service. Appeals of candidates from the decisions of the examiners have been heard and considered by the Commission, and in some instances experts have been employed to review the papers and report their findings thereon as an aid to the Commission in passing upon such appeals. The rule requiring that vacancies in the higher grades be filled, whenever practicable, by the promotion of persons in the lower grades before resorting to the eligible lists prepared for original appointment has been strictly observed. Transfer from the exempt class to the competitive class has not been authorized in any case, and transfer from the labor class to the competitive class has been allowed in two instances only, namely, in the Department of Parks, where ten laborers, who had been performing the duties of keepers of the menagerie for periods ranging from two to forty years, were permitted to be transferred to the last-named position for the reason that such position was classified for the first time on September 14, 1899, and the efficient discharge of the duties by the ten men referred to, for a long time prior to such classification, entitled them to the transfer without examination. The other instance was that of a veteran who held the position of driver in the Fire Department and was transferred to a clerkship under section 21 of the law. Transfers in the competitive class have been authorized only in pursuance of the provisions of Rule 40, and when such transfers were not inconsistent with the rules governing promotion. The provision of section 19 of the Civil Service Law requiring the certificate of the Commission, that all persons named in the pay-rolls have been appointed or employed or promoted in pursuance of law and of the rules made in pursuance of law, has in some instances caused considerable embarrassment, due to the fact that a technical compliance on the part of the Commission with the requirement was impossible, as, for example, in the case of the pay-rolls of the assistant clerks and others in the magistrates' courts, appointed during the interregnum between the passage of the law and the adoption of rules, which necessitated a division of the rolls into two parts, one bearing the names of those appointed in the absence of rules, which this Commission declined to certify, and the other the names of those appointed prior to the enactment of the law. Also in the Department of Public Charities and in the Department of Correction, where it was incumbent upon the officials in charge to appoint during said interval nurses and orderlies to care for the sick in the hospitals and other institutions, and keepers to guard the prisoners, and where the eligible lists were insufficient to meet the demands; in these cases the Commission could not attach the certificate required, and some of the appointees have been compelled to apply to the courts for relief. Cases in point are those of The People ex rel. William J. Chamberlain vs. Charles H. Knox et al., and The People ex rel. Albert G. Wilson vs. Charles H. Knox et al., decided by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Department, at the November term. In the Chamberlain case, the Court held that the appointment of the relator to the position of assistant clerk in the magistrates' court during the interregnum mentioned, and in the absence of an eligible list, was invalid, and the order of the Special Term directing a peremptory writ of mandamus to issue, compelling this Commission to attach its certificate to the pay-roll of the relator, was reversed and the writ denied. In the Wilson case, the Court also reversed the order of the Special Term directing the issuance of a peremptory writ of mandamus against this Commission, on the ground that the certificate was unnecessary, but held that the appointment of the relator was valid, being a reappointment of a person originally appointed in pursuance of the Civil Service Law and Rules in force at that time, the effect of which was to continue in office uninterruptedly an incumbent who had fulfilled upon his original appointment every condition and requirement constituting the test of merit and fitness then required. Another case was that of Police Patrolman John F. Schelpp, who was assigned to the rank of roundsman on June 1, during the interregnum mentioned. The Municipal Commission declined to attach the certificate to the pay-roll bearing the increased salary, and the officer obtained a peremptory writ of mandamus at Special Term in the Second Department of the Supreme Court. This Commission appealed to the Appellate Division, Second Department, from the order directing such mandamus to issue, and the appeal has been argued, but not yet decided. The requirement of the certificate referred to, which necessitates the certification of the pay-rolls, enables the Commission to determine in every case the regularity of the employment and the compliance with the law and the rules in respect thereto. The certificate of the appointing officers required by Rule 32, to the effect that the persons named on the pay-rolls have not been assigned to duties not appropriate to their position, has been attached to all pay-rolls, vouchers and accounts before the same have been approved by this Commission. During the year 1899 833,768 names were examined and certified to on the weekly rolls; 6,768 names on the semimonthly rolls, and 226,482 on the monthly rolls, making a total for the year of 1,067,018. The Commission is required by the Civil Service Law to keep an official roster of the classified civil service of the City and to transmit a copy of the same to the State Commission, with this report. So far as possible, such roster has been prepared, and a copy thereof, showing the names, addresses, positions and compensation of all persons in the classified service, is transmitted herewith. The number of persons in the classified service as shown by the roster is 30,190. The amendment to Rule 28, made by the State Commission on September 14, 1899, granting to eligibles the privilege of restoration to the list after declining appointment, has produced very satisfactory results. A candidate is now enabled to decline an appointment without losing his opportunity for future certification and appointment. This rule, as amended, has given the greatest relief where residence in a given locality has been a necessary qualification and where the law has not permitted a division of the list as to boroughs. The number of those appointed from eligible lists since the adoption of rules, July 11, 1899, and dismissed during the probationary period, is eight. An important part of the work of the Commission has been performed by the Labor Bureau, as will be noticed by refer ence to Table No. 5, appended hereto; 18,147 applications were received and filed, and 13,557 persons were examined during the year. The New York Trade School, in the Borough of Manhat tan, and the Pratt Institute, in the Borough of Brooklyn, have continued to conduct the technical examinations with satisfactory results. The examinations for the various trades have been practi cal, and have undoubtedly resulted in the employment of capable men in the city departments. The following tables are appended hereto and form a part of this report: Table No. 1-Appointments, etc., in classified service. 2-Examinations. 66 3-Number of candidates examined 1898, 1899. 5-Statistics of Labor Bureau. Respectfully submitted, CHAS. H. KNOX, President. WM. N. DYKMAN, ALEX. T. MASON, Commissioners. |